The Nutshell: Straight Outta Puerto Rico

Flying Squirrels infielder Sabin Ceballos saw his life within the movie “Straight Outta Compton” when he saw it for the first time, despite not speaking any English.

The scenes depicting the California neighborhood were like Ceballos’ hometown in Puerto Rico. The rapping did not draw him in, it was the storyline of breaking away.

“Where I come from, all the stuff you watch in the movies is what’s around me all the time,” Ceballos said. “So, separating yourself and trying to be different is a problem. If you’ve seen the movie, trying what they were trying back then was different and it became a problem. That’s why I identify with it.”

Ceballos a native of San Juan, Puerto Rico, mentioned that his neighborhood was not as dangerous as the film depicted Compton, but there was unsafe activity.

The baseball field was his escape from the dangerous acts that occurred around his neighborhood. His focus was dedicated to baseball while on the field, and not his surroundings.

“It’s something we deal with every day,” Ceballos said. “You have the field right here, but you also have those people around it too, so you don’t know what to expect. At the same time, you need to have your work going so you would rather forget about it and go to the field, do your thing and not focus on them. They don’t talk to you; you don’t talk to them, and you chill with it. It was always tense around the field.”

Ceballos kept chasing after his baseball dreams and saw opportunities outside of Puerto Rico. He attended the Puerto Rico Baseball Academy & High School in Gurabo, which also produced current Minnesota Twins shortstop Carlos Correa, and played in tournaments in the United States.

While at an event in Jupiter, Fla., Ceballos drew interest from the junior college level. His personal goal was to shoot straight for professional baseball, but a conversation with San Jacinto College in Texas changed that.

“I was not focused on being a college player. But when their coach came to talk to me, he became one of the best people I ever met,” Ceballos said. “That day, I was like ‘Yeah, I want to play for him.’”

Ceballos spent the 2021 and 2022 season with San Jacinto College and played in the JUCO World Series both seasons. He was named to the 2021 JUCO World Series All-Tournament Team and won the Jay Tolman Outstanding Defensive Player Award.

After his first season in college baseball, Ceballos told his agent that he was not ready to play professionally, and mapped out a plan to go Division I. That’s when the University of Oregon came calling.

The distance was significantly further away from Puerto Rico, and it prevented his family from visiting him more. Being away from his family weighed on him but Oregon’s program treated him well. In the 2023 season, he was named to the ABCA/Rawlings Gold Glove Team as a third baseman and named to the Pac-12 Conference All-Tournament Team.

When the MLB Draft came around, he traveled back to Puerto Rico to be with his family, and they rented an Airbnb near the coast.

“When the call came, I was actually at the pool, chilling and drinking a pina colada,” Ceballos said. “By the time that call came, I tried not to be stressed because those days are really stressful. That’s how I knew I was ready for the drive and all that kind of stuff because of the work I put in during the season.”

The Atlanta Braves were on the other end of the phone call, selecting Ceballos in the third round of the 2023 MLB Draft.

His 2024 season started well with the High-A Rome Emperors of the South Atlantic League. When late July, and the trade deadline loomed, Ceballos’ next life-changing phone call brought shock.

Initially, Ceballos suspected he was being released. It turned out the Braves were trading him to the San Francisco Giants, minutes before the official deadline. The trade sparked a reunion for him to go back to Oregon.

The Eugene Emeralds, High-A affiliate of the Giants, shares University of Oregon’s baseball stadium, PK Park, with the institution. The team wanted him to be back to what was so sought after in the draft, and the perfect place to do it was on familiar turf. Ceballos is the lone Oregon Duck to return to PK Park as an Emerald since the team switched affiliates to the Giants in 2021.

By being different and breaking away from the mold, Ceballos turned his dream into a career, featuring homecomings and now just two steps away from the majors.

“Having all my people watching me again and people that knew me from college, yeah 100% the adrenaline got up,” Ceballos said. “That’s something that changed my career.”

Favorite baseball atmospheres? – PK Park in Oregon, playing in Mexico and Winter Ball in Puerto Rico

Who was your favorite baseball player growing up? – Alex Rodriguez

Are you a cat guy or dog guy? – Dog guy, I have three. French bulldog and Pit Bull mix, Rottweiler and a mini doodle that is not mini anymore

What is your favorite dish to cook? – A Special Ceballos Chicken

Best movie of all time? – Straight Outta Compton

Most inspirational person in your life? – 100% my family